Hiding Underneath
by Ryeloza
Summary: Nora Halliwell is about to uncover a secret from her mother's past that will change her family's future forever. Part of the Alone, Eternally series.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Charmed_. I'm just having fun.

**A/n: **This is the fourth part of my "Alone, Eternally" series ("Alone, Eternally," "Nothing I've Become," "Reaching for You."). It is not necessary to read those stories before this one, although it will give you a good background for what's to come in this story. This story won't be too long. It's almost more of an interlude between the last story and the next one.

For anyone unfamiliar with my post-series stories, Nora and Lena are Phoebe and Coop's daughters.

I hope you enjoy this story. There will be probably one or two more parts to this.

_Katie_

**Setting: **October 2021

**Hiding Underneath**

sequel to **Reaching for You**

a story by **Ryeloza**

_My lullaby, hung out to dry.  
What's up with that? It's over.  
Where are you, Dad? Mom's lookin' sad.  
What's up with that? It's dark in here._

-Natalie Imbruglia, "Smoke"

Conner Hawkins asked Nora to the homecoming dance the day the school announced that tickets were on sale. She said yes, calmly and sophisticatedly, and then met up with Meli and Cara before first period to tell them the news in a much less dignified manner.

"Lucky," said Cara. "I wish a sophomore would ask me to the dance." But Cara didn't really sound the least bit jealous. By the end of the day, Roger Kenny, a boy in their math class, had asked her.

Nora was on cloud nine for the rest of the day, gushing to Meli and Lena about what color dress she would wear and how she would do her hair and other little details the entire walk home. She only stopped when, one block before the separated, Lena looked up at Meli and asked, "Are you going too?" and Meli answered, "Probably not."

After Meli had parted company with them, Nora said, "Maybe I can get one of Conner's friends to ask Meli. Oh! And then we could go in the same group!"

Any thought of finding her cousin a date, though, flew out the window when her mom got home from work that night. Her mom had started a new job about nine months before as a grief counselor at the hospital and the shift she worked meant she got home around eight o'clock. It had been a big adjustment for them, but Nora tried really hard not to complain. Most of the time.

"When can we go dress shopping?" she asked, shifting her weight from one foot to the other in her excitement.

"I don't know, honey," Mom said. Her voice was tired, but her eyes were bright, which was reassuring. "I'm working the next two weekends."

"Oh," said Nora, trying not to sound crestfallen. "But I want to get a good dress. And everything will be gone if we wait too long." Her subtle manipulation went right over her mother's head.

"Maybe one of your aunts can take you," Mom said with forced enthusiasm.

Nora nodded, hugged her mom briefly and then went to the bedroom she shared with Lena to make some attempt at her homework. She didn't even remember her resolve to find Meli a date with one of Conner's friends until a week later, when Meli announced that Ben Frost had asked her to the dance. Ben was great friends with Kenny, which meant that Meli and Cara would be going in the same group; Nora felt a pang at the realization. Oblivious, Meli quickly invited Nora to go dress shopping on Wednesday after school.

Aunt Piper picked them up after school on Wednesday, dropping Lena at her viola lesson before driving Nora and Meli out to the mall. Despite her disappointment that her mom couldn't take her, Nora couldn't help but feel excited when she saw the dresses. She had decided on red or hot pink—something bright and sexy. Maybe black.

Without considering her mother's warning of "under one hundred and fifty dollars," Nora dove right in. She and Meli had each picked out about nine dresses when the finally went into the fitting room. Aunt Piper, looking grateful for the break, plopped down on a seat outside and waited for them to model the dresses.

Nora loved the first dress she put on—bright red, low cut in the front and back, and short—but the moment she stepped out of the dressing room Aunt Piper shook her head and said, "Absolutely not." A second later, Meli stepped out in a hideous pale pink that was definitely not her color and said, "You're not getting_ that_, are you?"

"I won't if you don't get that," said Nora, and she disappeared back into her dressing room.

She and Aunt Piper didn't end up agreeing on anything until Nora's fifth dress: a black number with a hem only two inches above the knee and a fitted, strapless top. "That's beautiful," Aunt Piper said, and Nora clapped her hands, certain that she had found her dress. Then she glanced at the price tag: three hundred dollars. Nora's stomach plummeted to the floor and she swallowed hard, not glancing at Aunt Piper as she muttered, "Maybe not," and went back into the fitter.

Meli found her dress first: a warm, sunset-colored orange with an asymmetrical hem that began at her right calf and ran to her left ankle. She looked really pretty and Nora felt a twinge of jealousy when Aunt Piper said that Meli could get it, even though it cost a little over two hundred dollars.

In the end, with a lot less enthusiasm than she'd started with, Nora picked out a strapless teal halter top dress with a knee-length skirt. Both Aunt Piper and Meli declared it perfect.

On the way home, Aunt Piper said casually, "You know, Nora, topaz jewelry would look great with your dress. I'm sure your mom has some. It's her birthstone."

And Nora perked up at the thought as a vision of a cluster of pearls around a topaz on a silver chain came into her mind. And certainly Mom would let her borrow it!

* * *

"Absolutely not," said Mom when Nora asked her about the necklace.

"Why not?" demanded Nora, finally snapping. How, after _everything_, could her mother possibly say that she couldn't wear the necklace.

"You can wear the one Dad got me for my birthday," said Mom, "or any of my earrings or bracelets, but you're not wearing that necklace."

"That's not fair!" yelled Nora. "You never let me have anything! I couldn't even get the dress I wanted because of you!"

"Nora—"

"I can't stand you!" said Nora, and she stormed to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her and then falling onto her bed, crying. It wasn't fair. Her mom was horrible and mean and completely unfair! And the worst part was that Dad wasn't even here to tell her that she was being unfair, so nothing was going to change.

A few minutes later, Lena came into the room and sat down next to Nora. She stayed there until Nora finished crying.

* * *

Three weeks later, Nora arrived home at the empty apartment with a plan: she was going to borrow the necklace, regardless of permission. The dance was this Saturday and today was Wednesday; her mother certainly wouldn't miss the necklace in just four days. Stealthy, she crept down the hall to her mother's bedroom.

Nora left the bedroom door open so she could hear if anyone came in the apartment and immediately went to her mother's jewelry box. Dad had bought the piece for Mom a few years ago for Christmas; the box opened with two doors instead of on top. Inside were three shelves that could be removed: Mom kept earrings and rings in the top shelf, bracelets in the middle one, and necklaces in the bottom. Carefully, Nora pulled out the bottom shelf.

Seven necklaces lay in perfect order on the shelf: a gold chain that held a heart-shaped locket (Mom never wore this, but kept it because Grandma had bought if for her right before she died); four beautiful necklaces Mom had bought herself at some department store; a silver chain with a heart made of tiny diamonds attached (Dad had gotten this for Mom for her birthday); and a chain that had four jewels dangling from it—her mom and her aunts' birthstones—that Aunt Paige had had made a few years ago (she and Aunt Piper had identical ones). But where, Nora wondered now, was the pearl and topaz necklace?

She quickly checked the other two shelves in case the necklace had been misplaced, but it wasn't there either. Maybe, somehow, it had ended up in her mother's box for less precious jewelry by mistake. Nora opened the top drawer in her mother's dresser, and felt for the other box while trying not to disturb the socks and underwear. At the very back of the drawer, her fingers touched something wooden, and eagerly Nora pulled out the box. It was bigger and heavier than she remembered, but before she even entertained the thought that she might have the wrong box, she opened the lid.

For a long time after, she would wish that she had just listened when her mother said she couldn't wear the necklace.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Charmed._

**Hiding Underneath**

sequel to **Reaching for You**

a story by **Ryeloza**

_My mouth is dry; forgot how to cry.  
What's up with that? You're hurting me.  
I'm running fast; can't hide the past.  
What's up with that? You're pushing me._

-Natalie Imbruglia, "Smoke"

The box was oak and smooth to the touch, though it appeared to be very old. When Nora opened it she saw that her mother had written in permanent marker on the inside of the top, "Stay out! This is the private property of Phoebe E. Halliwell!" Nora smiled in spite of herself, now certain that she didn't have the other jewelry box, but quite curious about why her mother had something hidden in her underwear drawer from the 1980s.

Carefully, Nora pulled out the pressed white rose that lay on the top of the pile of stuff in the box. She wondered absently what occasion the rose might be from: a first date; a contest at school; Grandma's funeral? Eager for more, Nora set the rose on her mother's bed and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She opened it slowly; the paper was so old that it would be easy to rip where the crease was. Inside someone had scrawled in pen, "Running to the store. Be back soon. Love you."

Nora bit her lip. Grandma again? Or Aunt Prue? It had to be something sad; it wasn't like the note was significant enough otherwise to keep.

Next she pulled out a Christmas ornament: two penguins ice skating together with the year 2001 printed across the bottom. It was quickly becoming apparent that even if the inscription on the box had been written when her mom was a kid, the contents seemed to be from much later.

After the ornament came a business card that read, "Cole Turner, Assistant District Attorney" and then a pair of green baby booties. Nora fingered the yarn for a couple of minutes before setting them on the bed next to the flower. She was beginning to feel a little bit guilty about going through her mother's things, especially because she had the sinking feeling that the baby booties might have been Meda's. Her sister, had she lived, would be six and a half now.

Despite any misgivings, Nora continued with the box. If it was, as she was beginning to think, a box of things associated with people who had died in her mother's life then Nora felt she had a right to keep looking. Decided, Nora pulled out a thick, folded sheet of parchment. Oddly, it looked as though it belonged in the Book of Shadows; but why would her mother have ripped pages out of the Book? Surely her aunts wouldn't have approved.

Nora unfolded the parchment and realized it was actually two pages, both from the Book. The top one featured a picture of a particularly awful looking demon called Belthazor. Nora scanned the words on the page quickly, wondering why Belthazor was in the box and not the Book and then turned to the next page. To her amazement, the first thing she saw was a series of pictures of her mom and a man she didn't recognize. At the top of the page were the words, "Cole's Human Form," written in her mother's handwriting. Nora swallowed hard, setting the pages side by side. They couldn't go together, could they? If they did, that meant…

Mom had dated a demon?

And Cole…wasn't that the name on the business card? Nora glanced down at the card. Cole. Cole was a demon. Cole had…dated?...her mom. But that didn't mean this entire box was dedicated to him. It couldn't possibly be!

Nora went back to the box and with shaking fingers pulled out the very necklace that had prompted this entire search. Barely stopping to look at the necklace, she pulled out an envelope from the box and then a letter from inside the envelope. The words were written in the same hand that had scrawled the note about the grocery store, Nora realized.

"If I'm dead right now," Nora read, "I know it was at your hand. No one else in heaven or hell had power over me. Please don't cry. I was dead before I met you, I was born the day you loved me, and my love for you will keep me alive, forever."

"Oh my God," she said, now feeling frantic. This didn't make any sense. Why was a _demon_ writing love letters to her mom? Why had her mother even been involved with a demon? And why in hell did her mother have a box of mementos from the…whatever…affair?

The box was nearly empty. There were a few snapshots stuck to the bottom of Mom and Cole. In all of them her mom was gazing at Cole in a way that Nora usually only saw in the movies, or when Aunt Piper looked at Uncle Leo when she thought no one was watching. Almost immediately she tossed the pictures aside, unable to look at any more. There was only one thing left in the box, and Nora pulled it out with trembling fingers. In the palm of her hand lay a gold ring—a gold wedding band.

They hadn't…they couldn't have been…

But if they were, and if this whole box was for _him_ then the baby booties…

Nora jumped off of the bed, feeling faintly ill. How could this be? How could her mother have this whole secret life in her underwear drawer that Nora was completely unaware of? And why the hell had her mother kept all this junk? Had Dad known about it?

Almost against her will, Nora glanced at one of the pictures again and suddenly her eyes widened in recognition. She had seen this man before! She was sure of it!

Without bothering to put the box away, Nora went to the living room and pulled a photo album off of the shelf, flipping through the pages until she came to the pictures of Aunt Piper and Uncle Leo's wedding. She went right by the pictures of her aunt and uncle, whizzed by those of the bridesmaids, skipped over her grandparents and didn't stop until she got to a picture of the whole family. To her horror, she found exactly what she was looking for: the man from the box—Cole—standing behind her mother with his arms wrapped around her waist, grinning.

Feeling sick, Nora snapped the album shut. She couldn't quite pinpoint why she was so upset, possibly because there were so many things about this that were upsetting. The idea that her mother had dated a demon was enough to make her head spin, but that she had—maybe—married one? And had they had a baby? What had happened to the baby if they had? Certainly she didn't have another brother or sister out there somewhere, right?

And Cole, what had happened to him? Was he dead at her mother's hand, as the note suggested? Why? Had she discovered that he was a demon?

Nora bit her lip, feeling as though she wanted to cry but unable to produce tears. Why was it a big secret? Obviously the whole family knew about it, but she'd never heard anyone say a word. Certainly Aunt Paige would have used it as a cautionary tale as she was always warning them about how manipulative demons were, even with a person's heart. Unless…

Nora took a shuddery breath. Unless Mom was still in love with him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Charmed_.

**Hiding Underneath**

sequel to **Reaching for You**

a story by **Ryeloza**

_Why? Bleeding is breathing  
You're hiding underneath the smoke in the room.  
Try, bleeding is believing.  
I used to…  
I used to…_

-Natalie Imbruglia, "Smoke"

Lena called twenty minutes later to say she was going to Aunt Paige's and Nora finally woke up from the trance she had been in. She put the photo album away and then went back into her mother's bedroom and carefully put everything back in the box just as she'd found it. Then she put on a jacket, grabbed her keys, and left the apartment.

They lived seven blocks away from the manor, which was a far cry from the one block away their old house had been, but still walk-able. Nora practically flew to the house that night though, taking long strides, cutting through yards and running the last stretch of the trip. She took the steps to the front door two at a time and then went into the house without bothering to knock (the family was always going in and out of the manor in this manner).

"Meli!" she called as soon as she was inside. She walked into the living room and saw Chris sprawled on the couch watching television. "Hey," she said. "Where's Meli?"

"I don't know," said Chris. "Upstairs?"

Nora nodded and headed for the stairs, in a rush to find Meli before she ran into her aunt or uncle. If she did, she wasn't sure she'd be able to stop from demanding answers to every question she had. When she reached Meli's room, she knocked briefly and then barged in before waiting for a response.

Her cousin was lying on her bed talking on the phone, but when she saw Nora she said, "Hey, Cara, I'll call you back. Nora's here. Yeah. Yeah, okay. Bye." Meli snapped her phone shut and pushed herself up so she was sitting cross-legged on the bed. "What's going on?" she asked.

Nora began pacing, hands on her hips. "I…I don't even know what's going on," she said, sounding slightly hysterical. Meli's eyes widened. "I think—oh _God!_—I think my mother was married to a demon."

Meli started to laugh and when Nora didn't join in, she said, "Wait, seriously?"

"Yes!" said Nora. "I found this box in my mother's _underwear_ drawer that was filled with pictures and love letters and…and _baby booties _and at the bottom was a _wedding ring!_" She announced this in the same way one would have announced an asteroid's imminent crash into Earth. "And there were pages from the Book of Shadows that said he was some demon! God, Mel, what the hell was she thinking?"

"Maybe she didn't know," said Meli, though she sounded like she didn't believe a word of what she said. "Are you sure about all this, Nora? Maybe you just misinterpreted things."

"No, no, no," said Nora, collapsing onto the bed. "I'm sure about this, Mel. He was in your parents' wedding pictures for goodness sakes!"

"Seriously?" asked Meli. She scooted off of the bed and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" demanded Nora.

"To find my parents' wedding album," said Meli. "I want to see this guy."

Nora sighed. She didn't ever want to see him again, but she didn't say anything to stop her cousin. Two minutes later, Meli had flopped back down on the bed with a photo album in her hands. Halfheartedly, Nora sat up and leaned against Meli's arm, watching as she flipped through the pictures.

"Look for one of everyone," she said. Meli nodded and finally stopped a few pages in at a copy of the same picture Nora had seen. "That's him," she said, tapping his face with her fingernail.

"Hmm," said Meli, biting her lip.

"What?" asked Nora warily.

"Nothing," said Meli. "Well, I mean, just…at least he's good looking."

"God, Mel!" said Nora, shoving her cousin. "He's a demon!"

Meli shrugged and looked down at the picture again. "It was a long time ago, Nora," she said. "And everyone makes mistakes."

"It's not…I don't care…" Nora sighed loudly. "I just want to know why it's such a secret, Mel," she said quietly. "Why didn't she ever say anything? Why rip the pages out of the Book and pretend it never happened? How have we never heard about this?"

Meli wrapped an arm around Nora's shoulders. "I don't know," she said. "Maybe your mom's embarrassed or something."

"Embarrassed enough to keep a box of memorabilia?" said Nora. "No, it has to be something else, Mel."

"Well," said Meli, "you could always ask her."

"Or not," said Nora, pulling away from Meli and standing up again.

"We could ask Mom. She obviously knew about it."

"Your mom will tell my mom."

"There must be some way we can get around that," said Meli.

"Yeah, maybe with a spell," scoffed Nora. She paused and grinned. "Hey, there's an idea."

"Oh no, Nora. Those always go wrong."

Nora, as always when she came up with a plan, had stopped listening. Meli's protests were always the same anyway. "The truth spell," she said as she began to pace again.

"Wyatt and Chris cast that once," said Meli, "and everyone in the family remembered after. Remember that, Nora? My mom or your mom will still remember."

"They will," said Nora, "but your dad won't."

Meli opened her mouth to respond, seemed to realize Nora was right, and shut it again, smiling. "Okay," she said. "For once, you're right. Still, if our moms find out what we're doing…"

"They won't," said Nora. "We just have to make sure they don't know about the spell, right? Come on. Let's go look at the Book. Are your parents home right now?"

"Not yet," she said. "But—"

Nora ignored her, and left the room, making a beeline straight for the attic. She was already flipping through the book by the time Meli came into the attic. Just like always, Meli looked torn between leaving Nora to her own devices and joining in on the plan. Meli seemed to have inherited every serious, cautionary trait possible from her parents, which could be annoying, but also useful; Meli was usually able to point out every risk and loophole in Nora's plans.

"Here it is," said Nora. She read through the spell once while Meli came around to face the Book. "This will be easy," she said. "We just need to change the last line. If we say it so only people in this _room_ will hear the truth from other's mouths then it won't affect anyone else in the house. Just us. So your mom won't even know what's going on, and neither will Chris. Your dad's immune anyway because he's a mortal, so we'll be in the clear."

"Are you sure that's how it works?" asked Meli. "Won't they realize when we ask them a question and they have to tell the truth?"

"Well if we don't cast the spell on them then their memories of everything should end after a day. It's only personal gain if you're gaining anything from it."

"Are you sure about that?"

_No_, thought Nora, but she said, "It only makes sense. But, you know, you could also just avoid asking your mom questions until tomorrow."

"It won't rhyme," said Meli, in what seemed a last-ditch attempt to get Nora to change her mind.

"Who cares?"

"Nora…"

But Nora was beyond caring now. She took a steadying breath and read out loud, "For those who want the truth revealed, opened hearts and secrets unsealed, from now until it's now again, after which the memory ends. Those who now are in this room will hear the truth from others' mouths."

She looked up when she had finished reading and glanced at Meli, who was standing with her arms crossed looking nervous. After a moment of Nora staring, Meli rolled her eyes and said, "Okay, try it."

Nora grinned. "How do you feel about me casting the spell?"

"I'm really, really, really nervous because I'm sure we're going to get caught. We always get caught. And you know it."

Nora pressed her lips together to keep from laughing and then said, "Wait, that's not good enough. You'd say that anyway. Let me try again."

"No way," said Meli. "I don't trust—"

"Are you going to let Ben kiss you at the dance?"

"If he tries to I won't stop him," said Meli, and then she blushed. "No-_ra_!"

"This is totally going to work," said Nora. "Please tell me your dad is going to get home first tonight."

"I don't know," said Meli. "Mom had a doctor's appointment at four thirty. So it depends on how long she's stuck there."

Nora glanced at her watch. "Well, it's five now," she said.

Then, to Nora's astonishment, she heard Uncle Leo's voice call from downstairs, "Meli? Where are you, sweetie?"

"There you go," said Meli. "Good luck."

Nora nodded, but she suddenly felt sick again. She'd almost forgotten why she had decided to cast the spell in the first place. Now, in the face of finding out exactly what her mother was hiding, she felt like calling the whole thing off.

"We're up here, Dad!" Meli called before Nora could say anything. "You better not blow this," Meli said as an aside. "This is probably your only chance without actually asking your mom what's up."

"I'm not sure I can do this," said Nora, grasping Meli's forearm. "What if I don't like what I hear?"

"You'll deal with it and move on," said Meli. "Nora?"

Nora's eyes were glued on Uncle Leo, though, who had just walked through the attic door. "Hey, girls," he said. He glanced at the Book and then back to them. "Should I be worried?" he asked.

"Yes," said Meli and Nora simultaneously. Uncle Leo raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to ask another question when Nora blurted out: "Was my mom married to Cole Turner?"

"Yes," said Uncle Leo and he looked back and forth between them, clearly surprised. "Where did you—"

"Was Cole a demon?" asked Nora.

"Yes," said Uncle Leo, followed quickly by: "Girls, what spell did you cast?"

"Truth spell," they said in unison. Meli bit her lip and looked down at the ground.

"Oh no," said Uncle Leo. "I don't know how you found out, but we're not doing anything else until one or both of your mothers are here."

Uncle Leo turned and started to leave the attic, and Nora nudged Meli insistently. "Please," she said. "Please, please, please, Meli."

Meli shut her eyes, groaned, and then froze her father in his tracks. "I hate you," she said to Nora, and then she unfroze her father's head.

"Uh, Meli!" said Uncle Leo as the girls walked around to face him again.

"Sorry, Dad," said Meli. "But Nora's really upset."

Uncle Leo's face softened a little, but then he said, "If you want to know, Nora, you should ask your mom. And not under a truth spell."

"How did they meet?" asked Nora, ignoring her uncle's advice.

"Cole was trying to kill the Charmed Ones," said Uncle Leo. "He and your mom fell in love."

"But he was a demon. Did she even know?"

"She found out. Cole killed the Triad after he couldn't bring himself to kill your mom and Piper and Prue teamed up with another demon to try to kill Cole. Your mom faked his vanquish to save his life."

"You've got to be kidding me," said Nora. "Is she insane?"

"She was in love," said Uncle Leo. "And Cole loved her. He saved her life, several times."

"So they got married?"

"Eventually," said Uncle Leo. "After they vanquished the Source."

"She married him even though she knew he was a demon?" asked Nora. Next to her, Meli looked down at her feet.

"She didn't think he was a demon," said Uncle Leo. "Cole was half-human and a few months before his powers had been stripped. When the girls vanquished the Source, the Source took over Cole's body."

"Oh my God!" said Meli, her head snapping up. She looked from her dad to Nora wide-eyed.

"So what happened?" asked Nora, determined to hear everything.

"We found out he was the Source and for awhile, your mom…went along with it. But then she and Piper and Paige vanquished him."

"Why would she go along with that?" Meli asked the question before Nora could, and Nora looked at her gratefully.

Uncle Leo sighed. "She was pregnant."

"Fuck," said Nora, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Nora!" said Uncle Leo.

"What happened to the baby?" asked Meli quietly.

"He died. His powers were out of control. Your mother couldn't handle it and then the seer stole the baby and she couldn't handle the power either. They both died."

"And Cole was dead too?"

Uncle Leo hesitated and then said, "Kind of."

"Kind of?" asked Nora. "How can you be kind of dead?"

"He came back from the wasteland by stealing powers. He was invincible. And crazy because Phoebe wouldn't take him back. We didn't know what to do about it."

"So what did you do?" asked Nora, suddenly weary. This was so much more than she had expected. More than she had ever thought possible.

"I'm still not sure what happened," said Uncle Leo. "Paige was the only one there. She saw his vanquish. He's dead now."

Meli took Nora's hand and squeezed it, and Nora nodded a little. Quickly, Meli unfroze her father. Uncle Leo looked torn between anger and sympathy. "How the hell did you find out about Cole?" he asked Nora.

"My mom has a box of stuff that I found in her room," said Nora sullenly. She sighed. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"I don't know," said Uncle Leo. "We rarely mentioned Cole after he was gone. I think it was too…too much."

Nora nodded and said, "Thanks, Uncle Leo." Then she left the attic without another word, ignoring Meli calling her name. She was only slightly surprised that Uncle Leo didn't try to stop her. Sometimes he could be incredibly understanding.

Right before her mom came home, Meli called to tell her that her dad hadn't said anything to her mom. She also said that when she asked her dad, he said he wasn't sure whether it was his place to say anything, and that he also thought Nora should tell her mom. When her mom got home that night, though, Nora hardly said a word to her. Somehow, she couldn't even understand who her mother was anymore.

Uncle Leo didn't make up his mind one way or the other in time, and by the next night Meli reported that he had forgotten everything.

This time, they never got caught.

* * *

**A/n: **And so ends part 4. If you're interested in continuing with this series, the next story ("Waits for You") should be up soon.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad you enjoyed this story, and I really appreciate the feedback. I hope you continue to read my work. Thanks!

_Katie_


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